I lost my beautiful son, Cade Reddington, at the age of 18. Cade died in his freshman dorm room at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee after taking what he thought was a Percocet, but it turned out to be one fake pill that was 100% fentanyl.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, Cade had dabbled with taking some pills while a Sophomore in high school, which he told me about a year later after he had stopped. I thought he had gotten through this experimental stage and I was sending him off to college drug-free, except for the occasional use of marijuana.
Hearing that he died of a suspected overdose came as a complete shock, as I believed my son knew better and would never take too much of something. I couldn't wrap my head around this. To learn in the coming weeks that One Pill Can Kill and the prevalence of fentanyl, the pieces came together that he did not overdose, he was poisoned by fentanyl. None of his friends knew about One Pill Can Kill or knew the signs of an overdose/poisoning and by the time 911 was called, even 4 rounds of Narcan couldn't save him.
I'm on a mission to educate EVERYONE about fentanyl in all street drugs, access to Narcan, and signs of a fentanyl poisoning/drug overdose. It is mind-blowing that this is now the number one cause of death among 18-45 year-olds and our leaders in this country are not doing anything to educate the public!
